'The Dinner Books'

The 'Dinner Books' contain the unbroken records of the dining club
of the Edinburgh Geologists from 1869 to 1970. They include details
of the location, menu, people present and manuscript records of the
entertainment, the songs and recitations by the geologists themselves.
The normal restraints of rank were removed and the senior men were
the subject of ribald comment and castigation from their juniors,
there was also much humour and leg-pulling. The records often give
an interesting commentary on the people involved.

A significant 'club rule' was that the 'Director of the Survey shall
not be eligible for membership.'

The Dinner Books also contain a wealth of other informal material,
watercolour, ink and pencil sketches, cartoons and copies of Geologists'
dinner menu cards.

The latter were based on humorous sketches with the characters represented
by photographic cut-outs which were particularly popular in the post-war
years.